Is the Princess of Strurm really your stepmother ?" "Of course she is," Jeanne answered.

"She was married to my father when I was quite a little girl, and she has visited me at the convent where I was at school, all my life, and when I left last year it was she who came for me.

Why do you ask so strange a question ?" "Because," he said, "I should consider her about the worst possible guardian that a child like you could have.

Tell me, what is it that goes on all day up at the Hall there--or rather what was it that did go on before Engleton went away ?--eating and drinking, cards, and God knows what sort of foolishness! Nothing else, nothing worth doing, not a thing said worth listening to! It's a rotten life for a child like you.

They tell me you're an heiress.